Love it or List it Friday!

//this vegan cauliflower pizza crust from my current girl crush, deliciously ella!

//this crazy delicious looking and sounding pasta dish with caramelized onions for nights when you just don't have it in you to do anything other than tossing some shiz in a pan and let the flavors dance.

//this mile high vegan eats restaurant review!  this woman lives in denver and often does mile high vegan eats highlighting vegan restaurants throughout denver.  i love seeing and hearing about places that are vegan friendly that i'd never heard of before!

//this awesome post on jewelry and gaw, her nails! my blogging dirty little secret is 10 times out of 10 i skip reading any and all sponsored posts and/or giveaways.  for whatever reason they make my skin crawl.  but when i saw how dawwwwrling drea's nails and rings looked in this post, i had to click.

//this around here post.  i need/want { nent?  waed?  let's stick to need/want } to do more freestyle writing word dumping on this blog.

//this families commercial/music video.  i got lost in the song and in the visuals, no doubt.

//this bourbon slush punch.  because bourbon slush punch.  that's why. slurrrrp

I'm still trying out names for the random list/links on Fridays.  Stealing from an HGTV show prooooooobably isn't the way to go, but it'll do for this week.

Fancy Friday Favorites!

//this sneak peek into Karley and Robby's 3rd Anniversary celebrations!  Watching people I love fall in love with mountain biking is so much fun.

//this honey mustard roasted cabbage.  I want this like 10 minutes ago.

//this small taste of a San Juan vacation.  Though short, the snippit brought back so many memories of our week long travel adventure to the San Juan islands last year.

//these homemade syrups!  I'm not one for sweetened coffee in the mornings but I could totally see making a batch of decaf coffee and sipping on one of these iced coffees in the afternoon.

//this dinner dish idea!  Sub the tuna for avocado and it sounds like a deeeelicious dinner idea. #getinmahbelly

I'm taking a page out of Anna + Tracy's book with a Friday round up of some favorite fancy links from the week!

the sweet season :: broken down v.4

making :: lake powell plans, denver plans, amos lee plans, birthday plans, camping plans.  

cooking :: roasted sweet potatoes + roasted tofu to be eaten cold with a { large } side of sriracha for lunches!

drinking :: lemon + mint + cucumber infused water 

reading :: done with joy luck book club starting the snow queen with a side of this is where i leave you

wanting :: a generous salad, cup of decaf coffee and flask of bailey's to get through this thursday + friday.

looking :: at a sky full of stars.  it wasn't until my dad visited us here in steamboat from ca and stopped dead in his tracks while walking home one night after noticing the sky littered in stars do i now notice and smile up at them every single night.

wasting :: away the cool summer evenings with a breeze and new book.  

sewing :: i may potentially help fix and sew a friend's dress.  i need my mary's help!

wishing :: my parents a happy anniversary.  they celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary a few weeks ago!  watching those celebrations and milestones in their lives come and go mean so much more to me as an adult as it did growing up.  i love their love.

enjoying :: dabbling in design again after taking 7 months off.

waiting :: for the weekend and time spent with rou!

liking :: the signs of summer that have been surrounding us lately.  sun-kissed cheeks, the slight smell of sunscreen that follows you everywhere, reading in the grass by the river in the backyard, salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner, falling asleep with the windows open and the breeze drifting in.  ahhh....sweet summer.
playing :: softball each wednesday night.

wondering :: why i thought i would grow my friendships with friends from work over playing softball.  have you seen me throw a ball lately?  correction: have you seen me attempt to throw a ball lately?! 

loving :: biking to work.  such a refreshing way to start the morning and a determined way to end the work day.
hoping :: the kraut i have fermenting is worth the wait and the testing of my cooking patience.

marveling :: at the concept of applying yourself and seeing yourself and your life grow.  novel concept, eh?  

smelling :: burt's bees chap-stick

wearing :: a skirt that i purchased in college about 9 years ago.  i was in a rush on my lunch break and needed a few outfits for some upcoming weddings.  i quickly bought two skirts only to discover once i brought them home that they are maternity skirts.  my sister and i laughed for what felt like ages over it.  i feel closer to her when i wear this skirt.  i love this skirt.

noticing :: my hair color is fading after coloring it last month for the first time in 1.6 years!

knowing :: the few hours i commit each week to my women's mountain bike clinics are paying off!

thinking :: ahead to my weekend in denver and i'm gitty with glee at seeing so, so, so many of my favorites.

feeling :: so many happy and nalsalgic emotions as i start writing blog posts for amie's wedding.  

bookmarking :: so, so many quick pickled recipes and tutorials.  i need to get over myself and just do it already!  pickle me.

opening :: a can of whoop ass. <----------- clearly i couldn't think an answer for this one.  but really, who doesn't open a can of whoop ass every morning?!

giggling :: at some humorous texts bouncing back between myself and a very dear 9 month pregnant girlfriend back in denver.  old friends are the best medicine.
needing :: to post this blog post already, i've been dinking around with it for 3 days now!

sweet season post volume one and two and three

tgif.

After a slightly crazy, slightly exhausting, slightly productive, slightly fun week - here's to Friday, friends!  

::via::

I'ma Cook You.

In the summer months, I tend to find around 3-5 quick, easy and deeelicious meals that I cycle through week after week.  I've been pinning vegan recipes more than usual lately but have been shying away from trying anything new because A) If it ain't broke, don't fix it and B) Lately, I'd rather be out on my mountain bike slash at happy hour slash reading in the backyard by the creek than spending time indoors.  That being said, I'm making this list more as a mental list to myself to help keep me accountable on expanding my cooking skillz and to quit eating homemade frozen burritos everyday for lunch { but they are sooooo good! }.

SO! - this summer, I commit to making:

1//Sauerkraut
2//Quick Pickled Veggies
3//Granola and eventually graduating to
4//Homemade Granola Bars
5//Noodle Salad/Vermicelli Bowl eventually graduating to
6//Bahn mi
7//Vegetable Tamales
8//Deconstructed Sushi Bowls
9//Everything Bagels

Spoiler Alert: I actually made the sauerkraut 2 weekends ago now and it's fermenting away in the pantry!  PATIENCE is not for sauerkraut and/or caramelized onion chefs.  Just FYI. 

And yes, Phil, I understand that a few of those listed above are the unconventional ways of making a classic dish. Read: No meat in a bahn mi sandwich and a spin on sushi without fish.  GASP.  

I assure you...it'll be ok.

See ya later, tourists!

We all know I'm wild about small town living, but what I am not necessarily wild about is small resort town living the week of a holiday.

*2 parts cluster, 1 part f!ck. 

Our first reaction was to get the flock out of dodge for the 4th of July weekend until we realized that he had a dozen+ friends coming into town, and I had 2 super duper uper special friends coming into town. We decided to split the difference of getting out of dodge, and fighting the crowds in dodge and ended up on a 24hr backpacking trip 

{ first of the season - yahoooooo!!! }!  

When we were living in Bremerton and would head out for a 1-3 hour drive to arrive at our backpacking trailhead location, Hunter would always say to me "I can not wait to take you backpacking in Steamboat and show you how many options there are within miles of Steamboat!"  It's not that I didn't believe him, I was just totally floored how right he was { don't tell him I said that }.  I worked until 5p Thursday and we were all packed up and on the road by 5:13p.  We drove for maybe 15 minutes before arriving at our trailhead, and just like that we were backpacking!  Our hike in was about 3 miles, and the trail would weave in and out of seeing downtown Steamboat, to seeing nothing but hills and trees for miles and miles.  Before we knew it and a mere hour and some change later, we had set up camp with an absolutely incredible view.  Ahhhh.....

We had an unbelievable sunset on Thursday night.  Think oranges, purples, reds, yellows fading out to light blues.  We watched it all on the tippie top of a rock bluff while we each enjoyed an IPA that happened to sneak into our backpacks.  

It.  Was.  Glorious.  

We also were able to sleep in the tent with the "windows"/screen unzipped for the first maybe 6'ish hours of sleep until it started to sprinkle.  

It.  Was. Glorious.

The next day we slept in { doesn't it always seem that while camping you wake up either at 5am or 10am?! }, had breakfast, Hunt went for a little stroll around camp while I relaxed in the hammock with a book.  

It.  Was.  Glorious.  

We then packed up lunch/snacks and headed out on what ended up being about a 5 mile day hike.  We saw dozens and dozens of butterflies on the hike, which I was totally not expecting!  Butterflies like backpacking, too I suppose.  We were about 3 miles in to our hike when Hunter happened to look across the field and says "Hey, I've been here before.  There are waterfalls back in those trees!  Let's check it out."  I'll be honest to say I was hesitant that we would find a waterfall, but { yet again } he was right!  We climbed up to the waterfall and hunkered down for some lunch, washed off a bit and simply soaked up and enjoyed the scenery. 

It.  Was. Glorious.

After our hike back to camp, it was hot hot hot and the bugs were annoying annoying annoying, so we decided to head back a little earlier than planned.  I'm incredibly thankful we did because about 10 minutes after we made it back to the truck a pretty crazy thunder/lightening/rain storm rolled in!

It was such an amazing 24hr getaway from reality, tourists and traffic.  I'm so excited to do it again 

{ and again and again and again! }.

*I totally stole this from a Someecard, but let's pretend I was crafty enough to think of it myself.